Illusion
by Nadin4400
Summary: With Audrey not being Audrey anymore, and Duke quickly running out time, his new Trouble growing progressively worse, they need to find a way to make things back the way they were before anyone got hurt. My take of the events of Season 5. Rated M for [possible] adult content in the future chapters. (The story is probably better than the summary, I suck at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Illusion

**Summary**: With Audrey not being Audrey anymore, and Duke quickly running out time, his new Trouble growing progressively worse, they need to find a way to make things back the way they were before anyone got hurt. My take of the events of Season 5.

**Characters**: All characters that made it through Season 4, mentions of the deceased/killed/etc.

**Spoilers**: Season 4, episodes 1-22.

**Timeline**: this story starts right where the Season 4 finale ended – at the lighthouse, right after William was sent through the door and after Audrey became Mara again.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine, never were, never will be – sadly. All characters belong to SyFy and their original creators.

**Author's Note**: A girls' gotta survive during the hellatus somehow, right? I know that my ideas will most likely have nothing to do with what the show-runners have in mind, but I like playing with them anyway. Fair warning – even though it is supposed to be a general Season 5 story, it'll be primarily Duke-centered with the other characters being a bit on the side lines. Thought I'd let you guys know :) I'm trying to keep the summary as spoiler-free as possible though, so… you'll have to read and see how it ends for all of them.

The title comes from the song "Illusion" by VNV Nation, which inspired the story.

* * *

**Prologue**

It was happening too fast. The energy, whatever it was, rushed out of the door, flooding every cell of Jennifer's body. Voices - hundreds, thousands of them, were screaming in her head, all at once, louder and louder with every moment. So many of them, trying to outshout each other. She couldn't make out a single word but she could feel their fear, and panic, and desperate need to be heard. Everything they were feeling – every single one of them – was coursing through Jennifer's veins, pounding in her temples, fighting to break free.

She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't… couldn't bear being alive. It was as if her body was falling to atoms, torn apart from the inside by the force and power far beyond her control and comprehension.

As the door closed at last, shutting behind William, her fingers flexed on the book, and Jennifer staggered backwards. It was too much. An overload she knew she couldn't handle.

She felt Duke's arms close around her just as her knees buckled, unable to hold the weight of her body anymore. Through the cacophony in her mind, Jennifer heard his voice calling for her, growing more and more panicky, scared and desperate. The loudest and the clearest sound of them all, and yet somehow muffled nonetheless, distant, surreal. As if he was miles away. As if he was just a dream, a figment of her imagination. And she was scared too. God, she was so horrified she couldn't fathom it.

Jennifer struggled to do something, say something, but the wave of lead-heavy exhaustion rolled over her, sucking her into the depths of something deep and dark and endless. In the back of her mind, she heard herself muttering something, clinging desperately to whatever reality she could hold on to, even though it was slipping way fast.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Jennifer struggled to keep her eyes on Duke's face hovering over her, but her vision blurred and faded. And then the world zoomed in on her, and everything went black.

* * *

"Now, who's going to help me get William back?"

Nathan watched the woman – Audrey?... Mara? – circle the room, looking at them in turns, her eyes narrowed, steel-hard and ice-cold. The eyes of predator.

She looked like Audrey, sounded like Audrey, even moved like Audrey in a way, but she was someone else entirely. He could feel it with everything that he was. Whoever she was, whatever she was, she was no Audrey Parker anymore, and it felt like having a limb cut off. Something was missing, and it hurt just as much.

With his heart pounding, Nathan followed her with his gaze, tense and alert, his mind reeling.

It was a mistake. Fools, they made the biggest mistake, and there was no going back now. No undoing.

* * *

Of course. God, of course! It wasn't just his trouble backfiring somehow, although that wouldn't surprise Duke in the least. But what William said… it made so much sense. Not that it ever crossed his mind, but an explanation that simple made him feel stupid. It was a curse after all, not a gift or a blessing like Wade so foolishly assumed. Getting it back had to have come with a price. And he, of all people, should've thought about it.

Duke's heart sunk and plummeted down into his stomach as his fingers flexed around Jennifer's cold hand, his mind working a mile per second. It scared him, it scared him so much to even begin to think about what was going on with his body right now. He didn't just feel bad. He could literary feel himself fall to pieces. There was something bad, something really bad growing inside of him. All of the Troubles the Crocker curse killed in God knows how many years. Duke could feel them trying to get out, break free, escape his body which didn't seem to be able to contain them all.

Not that it mattered right now. It would have to wait until later.

He turned and looked at Jennifer, her form frighteningly still on the cold stone floor, her face pale and lifeless. He needed to get her out of there. _Hold on. Please hold on_, he begged in his mind.

Except he couldn't do it. He couldn't do anything. His heart was pounding so fast it felt like it was trying to break out of his chest. His head throbbed so bad he could see black spot dancing before his eyes, blood drumming in his ears, in his temples. There was a crimson shade to the world around him, his vision blurring and fading in and out of focus.

Instinctively, Duke reached for the rocky wall to steady himself when the room started spinning around him, walls and floor unsteady and swaying, the rush of blood in his ears making it impossible to think. His hand missed the wall and he fumbled awkwardly in order not to fall, squeezing his eyes for a few moments to try and bring the world back into place. It was terrifying. God, he'd never been more scared in his life. Screw the Troubles, screw Mara or whoever she was. Nothing was as horrifying as knowing that he was physically incapable of doing anything, of helping Jennifer… So damn helpless! He couldn't even hear what was going on around him, for Christ's sake!

"I'm going to take this," the voice, both familiar and utterly alien burst into Duke's mind, and a shadow fell over him when Audrey—Mara bent down, reaching for the book clutched in Jennifer's still fingers.

Reaching out with one hand for Jennifer – an instinct to protect her, to make sure she was okay – Duke started turning slowly to Nathan and whoever was wearing Audrey's skin, but then his heartbeat escalated, and his headache grew so strong it felt like his head was about to explode any moment. Mara said something, something he couldn't quite hear, and the world slipped out of Duke's grasp. The last thing he remembered was a wave of chill wash over his body, the kind of sensation one would get after jumping from the dock into the ocean, and he couldn't help but wonder in the back of his mind if he was going to drown…

Mara disregarded him entirely as if Duke wasn't even there. Sensing the movement behind her back, she whipped around pinning Nathan to a spot with a heavy glare. "Don't you dare," she spat almost with resentment before snatching the book from Jennifer's grasp.

And then… and then something weird happen.

Before anyone had time to so much as blink, Mara's fingers brushed against the cover of the book. And the moment she touched it, there was a spark, blindingly bright, something cracked loudly, and then Mara was flying across the room, pushed by some unseen force.

She hit the wall and collapsed to the floor in a heap.

**Chapter 1 **

Without hesitation, Nathan rushed towards her. "Check on Duke," he told Dwight over his shoulder, kneeling beside Audrey. He reached for her neck and heaved a sigh of relief when his fingers found the flutter of her pulse, strong and steady.

Dwight threw an uncertain look at Dave, torn for a moment, but Vince standing on the other side of his brother nodded solemnly and Dwight let go of the older man's arm and hurried over towards Duke and Jennifer.

"He's out cold," he called out after checking Duke's vitals. "But he's alive."

Nathan's hand closed around Audrey's. He looked briefly at Dwight. "Jennifer?"

Dwight shook his head.

No.

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. How was it even possible that all this was happening?

"We need to get them out of here," he said, his voice thick, before scooping Audrey – whoever she was – in his arms.

Without a word Dwight draped Duke's arm over his neck, hoisting the other man up to his feet as best he could! He hesitated then, looking down at Jennifer, before Vince stepped forward.

"I'll get her."

Both Nathan and Dwight glanced briefly at each other.

"No," Dwight shook his head. His gaze fixed briefly on Dave before shifting to Vince. "Help Dave. I'll get her in just a moment." He followed Nathan towards the ladder and the trap door leading outside.

"Uncuff me," Dave pleaded in a small miserable voice, his eyes darting between his brother and Dwight in panic. "You've got to uncuff me."

"No," Nathan's voice cut through doubt and tension before Dwight could so much as open his mouth. "Not until we figure out what just happened," he said firmly in a voice that allowed no argument.

For a moment, it looked like Vince would protest but he clammed his mouth shut and pursed his lips, torn but not daring to protest.

"Nathan—" Dwight started once they were all gathered by their cars, the sun inching steadily towards the horizon, plunging everything in indigo shadows.

With Audrey locked in the back of Nathan's car and Duke positioned safely in the back of Dwight's, the two of them started walking towards the Teagues brothers standing quietly by Vince's Cadillac, Dave's hands still held together by the cuffs, both of them visibly edgy and uncertain, obviously reluctant to think of Jennifer's lifeless body lying on the bench seat in the back, among other things.

"I know," Nathan said in a strained voice.

There were decisions to be made, and he wasn't all that sure he could think clear enough to be responsible for them. Hell, the only thing he needed right now was to not think for a few hours, period. Stop it. Stop the buzz of thoughts and questions without answers and all his fears that were tearing him apart from the inside. He needed his mind to go numb, if only for a little while so that he could stop thinking, stop _being_ for that matter.

Except it wasn't how it worked. Shocker.

Nathan stopped a good ten feet from the Teagues, making Dwight skid to a halt as well.

"I'll lock her up, at the station," he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "At least… at least for the night."

Dwight nodded curtly. "I'm taking Duke to the hospital."

"Yeah, that's—that's a good idea. Whatever it is that's going on with him, they can at least deal with the physical effect of it."

Dwight frowned, considering his words. "You think it's true? What Audrey said. You think Duke's—" he cut himself off, not quite able to finish the sentence.

"I don't know," Nathan looked over his shoulder at Dwight's car. "I hope…" He cleared his throat. "I hope not." He sucked in a breath. "I'm not sure we can trust whatever she says."

Which was, by far, the most painful think to try and absorb. He couldn't remember a single moment of not being able to trust Audrey. Whatever was going on between them, whatever issues they had, he always knew he could trust Audrey with his life. Until now. It felt weird. Almost painful even, like some kind of black hole sucking him in. He felt alien in this world he no longer understood.

They started towards the Teagues again. "And what about…" Dwight winced a little. "What about Jennifer?" His voice dropped a little when her name left his lips.

"There's a back room at the Herald," Vince spoke quietly. "We can… I can…"

Nathan nodded, then fixed his gaze on Dave who shrunk visibly under his scrutiny. "Dave, you're coming with me."

"What?" Vince frowned.

"No," Dave stepped back although he clearly was in no condition to go any kind of escape.

"Nathan," Vince started.

"I need to talk to him," Nathan cut him off, addressing no one in particular. "I need to know everything he knows about the door."

Dave tensed at the mention of the door, as if he'd somehow forgotten all about it at least for a little while. As if he actually thought that they might put it behind them now that it was all over and never mention it again. As if after being closed, the door ceased to exist. And then here they were again, with Nathan smacking it right back in his face, and it was almost too much for him to take. Dave's eyes darted in panic between Nathan and his car parked twenty feet away, and his lips quivered a little.

The gun he'd used earlier – Duke's gun – was safely out of his reach, and all things considered, Dave wasn't stupid enough to assume he'd make a run for it even if he had it in him to try, what with him being so exhausted it was a miracle he could still stand on his feet.

"Is that really necessary? Now?" Vince's question was unsure and hesitant. "He's injured—"

This was one of those rare moments when he was on shaky ground, not knowing what was the right thing to do, his loyalty torn. For the first time ever, he didn't know if he could trust his brother enough to take his side without questioning his motives and reasons.

On the one hand, he knew better than anyone how important it was to learn as much as they possibly could about William and the door and the other worlds. Not just important but pretty much vital for each and every one of them.

On the other… on the other, Dave was his brother, by blood or not. Whatever their issues were, Vince cared about Dave more than anyone else in the world. Anyone or anything, for that matter.

The only problem was, Nathan didn't care about any of that, not by a long shot. What he did care about was that he really needed to figure out what the hell was going on with Audrey and all of them.

"He's right." Dwight spoke. "The bullet went through but he's bleeding pretty bad, and he needs to go to the hospital. You go take Audrey to the Haven PD," he offered as a compromise. "I'll drop Duke at the hospital, and then bring Dave over once he's taken care of."

Torn for a moment, Nathan considered his words, and then nodded reluctantly. Dwight was right after all. Dave was, in fact, in need of medical help, the blood spot on his shoulder spreading fast and not looking good at all. Even if the bullet going through, it didn't mean anything.

His gaze went to Dave and then fixed on Vince. "Don't try to pull anything stupid, you two."

"They won't," Dwight promised before either of the Teagues had a chance to respond. "They won't." He gave each of them a hard look before turning to Nathan. "Go."

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Author's note:** Hey, you made it this far! Thanks!

I know this chapter was a bit on the short side now, but it's just a start so… Stay tuned!

*Feedback is always appreciated (:


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Wow, it's been forever. I'm sorry for taking so long. Thank you so much for your patience, guys! Frankly, I wrote this chapter almost 2 months ago but life got in the way and I'm usually terrible when it comes to editing. I'm determined to keep working on this story though, even despite all Jennifer hate happening all over social media right now. Oh well!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

It was like floating through emptiness – endless, black emptiness. Like free fall, except there was no up or down, no left or right, no end and no beginning. As if constant motion and absolute stillness combined into one, merging into something impossible. Something beyond imagination. Something far beyond human comprehension.

And weirdly enough, it felt amazing. So peaceful and so right she couldn't help but keep clinging to it with everything that she was, her mind just as black and empty as everything surrounding her weightless body. Not a single thought. Not a single worry. Nothing but comfort and peace, and she didn't mind either.

But then… then she was falling fast. Faster than she could have ever imagined, with the wind blowing in her face and hollering in her ears. Except there was no wind, there couldn't be, which made no sense but she didn't have time to process any of that, what with the blackness all around her being ripped apart and torn to pieces.

And then the silence was gone, too, filling her with millions and millions of sounds – around her, inside of her, so deafening it was almost impossible to bear them all; a cacophony of them all merged into one constant hum, so consuming she couldn't tell where the buzz ended and she herself began.

All of a sudden, she was very much aware of her physical, of the blood running through her veins, hot as lava, of her heart pumping it, of her every nerve ending that seemed to have been on fire. She felt her entire body dissipate, cease to exist, until something else, something strong and powerful, brought all of its cells back together, pulling them all in place like a magnet. A million tiny pieces of puzzle clicked together—

And Jennifer snapped her eyes open.

It was dark, and she wondered, if a bit absently, whether or not she was dreaming. Whether or not she was blind. The thoughts that disappeared without fully registering, the blackness and the emptiness still feeling more real than the lumpy cushions underneath her back. More real that the breath caught in her throat and her heart fluttering in her chest like a bird, trapped in a cage.

There were voices on the other side of the door that stood slightly ajar, not exactly loud but harried and agitated, the tone of them more distinct than the words.

Jennifer blinked, her eyes finally adjusting to the poor lighting before focusing on the ceiling above her. The room was hot and the air felt stale and smelled of dust. It took her a moment or two to realize she was lying on the cot in the back room of the _Herald_ where Vince and Dave kept old copies of the paper for the sake of history or whatever. She knew they had them all scanned and stored on hard drives as well so she never really got the reason for these sentimental dusty stacks of thousands of issues crowding the small space, going all the way back to the very first issue. Her best guess was that they were getting ready for some kind of apocalypse that would cut Haven off all sources of power and only the information about something that happened in March of 1913 could save them all.

Then again, it wasn't entirely impossible, all things considered.

It did not, however, explain what the hell she was doing there when the last thing she remembered was—

Jennifer sat up abruptly, her heart all but jumping out of her chest. "Unstake My Heart" slid off of her lap and fell onto the hardwood floor with a dull thud, startling her. She stared at it for a long moment, the guard symbol on the cover glowing brightly in semi-darkness.

"—you should have told me!"

Jennifer snapped her head up. Vince. Of course.

Feeling woozy and wobbly on her feet, she headed for the door, the book clutched in her hands, her head buzzing like after waking up from an intense dream and not being able to remember it, and yet still having some weird 'aftertaste', something lingering in the back of her mind that she couldn't quite get hold of.

"…because that's what you'd do, Vincent, right?" Dave's voice was exasperated, panicky. "You have no idea what it felt like!"

"You tried to shoot me, Dave!"

"Guys—"

Dwight.

Jennifer shook her head, as if trying to physically clear her mind and pulled the door open, making old hinges let out a long, low creak. She grimaced a little when she stepped into the main office of the _Herald_, blinded for a moment by the light of several reading lamps lit up around the room, and making both bothers fall silent instantly and turn to her, their eyes wide with shock and their mouths agape as they stared at her.

Dwight, who was perched on the edge of Dave's desk, his arms folded on his chest, straitened up, his mouth all but agape at the sight of her. The look of weariness she spotted not a moment ago gone without a trace.

Which Jennifer didn't have time to deal with, whatever their problem was. On the list of her priorities it was… somewhere at the very bottom, frankly.

"Jennifer," Vince breathed out, clutching the back of the chair he was standing by.

"It's not possible," Dave mouthed almost inaudibly.

Jennifer ignored their reaction entirely.

"Vince," she walked up to the brothers, her voice urgent and almost frantic. "Where's Duke?"

* * *

"_Duke, I was thinking—" Jennifer cut off mid-sentence and stopped in her tracks when she walked out of the bedroom and saw that the main cabin was empty. She craned her neck, trying to see in all the nooks and secret corners of the boat. "Duke?"_

_The coffee machine on the counter by the sink was on, and the smell of coffee, freshly brewed and compelling, was hanging in the air. _

"_Duke?" Jennifer called out again, heading for the door. She pulled it open and stepped out and onto the outer deck, cold underneath her bare feet, squinting a little in the sun and shivering in the morning breeze, the tank top and shorts she used as a pajama hardly being of any use against autumnal chill. _

_The Rouge seemed to be empty and eerily quiet, the only sound being the flapping of the tarp in the wind and the lapping of the waves against the hull and the barnacle-covered poles supporting the dock- _

_-until Duke stepped onto the deck from the marina, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. An easy half smile crossed his face when he saw her. _

"_Hey," he said softly, starting towards Jennifer. _

"_Where have you disappeared?"_

"_Just went to get the morning paper," he shrugged a little and put the rolled up copy of the Herald on the table. _

"_The paper," Jennifer echoed, dubious. _

_He stepped closer to her, nonchalant. "I thought you wanted to do a crossword."_

"_I thought you didn't believe in 'flavored coffee commercials'."_

_Duke tried to keep his face straight – as straight as he could muster – but the corners of his mouth tugged up a little, almost of the will of their own. He paused, holding her gaze. "I thought you knew me." _

_And when Jennifer didn't respond, he reached to tuck her hair behind her ears framing her face with his hands and slanted in to brush his lips against hers, tentatively at first, teasing them both, until she grabbed the folds of his jacket and stretched up on her toes, deepening the kiss, feeling him smile against her mouth because she was smiling, too. _

"_I could get used to this," Duke whispered breathlessly, his voice low and hoarse. _

_Jennifer threw her head back, searching his face, her eyes narrowed slightly. "To… doing crosswords?"_

_Duke chuckled a little. "For one thing."_

"_What else?" She asked and shivered a little, not seeming to really notice it though. _

_Duke did, however. He took in her outfit with a different kind of apprehension, his brows pulling together in a slight frown. "It's chilly out here. How about we get you back inside?" _

_Tilting her head to her shoulder, Jennifer allowed her lips to curve into a contemplative smile. "I have a better idea." She slipped her hands underneath his jacket, wrapping her arms around his waist and wiggling her way closer to the warmth of his body. Duke didn't hesitate to put his arms around her and pull her closer, wrapping his jacket around both of them. "This," Jennifer looked up at him. "Much better."_

_He didn't hold back his own smile. "Much. You good now?" _

_When Jennifer nodded, he reached to brush the hair that the wind kept blowing in her face, and then ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. _

"_So," Jennifer prodded, "what else would you like to get used to?"_

_He leaned against the railing, pulling Jennifer with him, his eyes scanning the water stretching all the way towards the horizon past her shoulder before he turned to her again. "Lobster for breakfast." Duke shrugged. "Long walks on the beach." A pause. "Cutting down on the Twilight routine when I get weird around other people's blood."_

_She considered his words. "Don't you worry you'll get bored?"_

_Duke chuckled. "Oh, I don't know, maybe in a decade or two," he admitted matter-of-factly. "It'll probably be painful but I can deal with that."_

_Jennifer half snorted as she hid her face in Duke's chest, the sound vibrating through her body and into his. _

_He let out a slow sigh, tightening his hold on her as she relaxed into him, his fingers tracing slow soothing circles on her back. He could feel the delicate smell of her hair, still slightly wet from the shower – something floral and citrusy – which made his chest tighten, in a very good way. _

"_Did I ever tell you that you're by far my favorite alien?" Jennifer let out a low grumble of displeasure, which Duke ignored completely as he went on, "No? It was a close call between you and Dave—"_

_She tried to free her hands and wiggle out of the circle of his arms but he held her where she was without much effort. Well, almost. For her small size she could be surprisingly fierce. Which normally Duke was rather fond of. Except she probably wanted to punch him right now. Which, come to think of it, still was endearing. _

"—_but he is not nearly as good-looking as you are, especially in those… little shorts, so..."_

_Giving up on freeing herself, Jennifer managed to pull back just enough to look at his face, her eyes narrowed and stormy. _

"_It's like you're actually enjoying this."_

"_Can't say I don't."_

"_And it doesn't bother you, Duke? That I'm… whatever it is I am?" _

_Duke hesitated, his smile fading, replaced by something else, something Jennifer couldn't quite read. Something that made everything go still around them. Jennifer tensed all over without even realizing it, her heart skipping a bit and her breath catching in her throat. _

"_It did." Duke admitted. "When I thought that it would take you away from me." He put his hand on her side of Jennifer's neck, her face turned up to him. _

_Jennifer's lips quivered a little before curving into a smile. "Nothing is taking me away, Duke."_

"_I'd never let it happen." Duke pressed his lips to her forehead for a moment, and Jennifer rubbed her nose against his cheek, a small half laugh forming in her throat. "Come on," in one swift movement he swept Jennifer off of her feet without any kind of warning, making her yelp in surprise, which morphed into a half laugh, and grab onto him, holding tight._

"_What are you doing?!"_

"_Let's get you some place warm before you ended up with pneumonia." _

_Jennifer slipped he arms around his neck. "You're insane," she murmured against his neck, tickling his skin with a soft giggle. "I like it," she met his eyes when he paused, her fingers tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, her gaze searching his face for a few moment before she rested her forehead against his temple. Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she felt her heart leap for a moment before settling into an even, steady rhyme. "I like everything being… normal." _

_By this time Duke had already stepped inside. He let Jennifer slide down to the floor, dipping down for a kiss without hesitation, his hands raking her hair, framing her face. Her lips felt soft against his, and he deepened the kiss until he felt Jennifer's hands clench his shirt, pulling him down, closer. _

_He pulled away after a long while, resting his forehead against hers, both of them breathless. His fingers fumbled with her hair absently. "I like normal, too," he whispered, and then added with a smile. "Normal sounds awfully good." _

* * *

Hangover. It felt like a very bad hangover, one Duke hadn't experienced in quite a while. Everything hurt, even his eyelids – especially his eyelids – and he had a strong suspicious that sometime between then and now he had been run over by a truck or something. A big one.

There was this one time when he had a few drinks too many… Okay, more than just one time, but it wasn't exactly the point now. He knew the feeling, this overall ache in his entire body weighing him down and making him want to stop breathing because the simple act of inhaling and exhaling was making everything worse.

Nothing some dimmed lights and Aspirin wouldn't fix through, or so Duke's experience told him.

He groaned quietly and squeezed his eyes tighter, willing the room around him to stop swaying and spinning and making him wonder if maybe someone tried his bed to a rollercoaster of some sort. It was like the room was drunk and not him, and it wasn't fun at all. Not even a little.

And then… and then it all kicked in.

The lighthouse.

Mara.

Jennifer.

Duke snapped his eyes open, and then shut them again, groaning a little when the light nearly burned through his skull and all but made his head explode. A black wave of nausea mixed with fear washed over him, swallowing him whole.

He tried again, slowly, blinking and squinting, until the room finally came into focus.

The hospital. He was at the hospital. And the weird beeping sounds that Duke assumed were a part of his nightmare, or his punishment for everything he had ever done wrong in his life were coming from some weird looking machine hooked on the wall to the left from him. And the smell… he should've recognized the smell, and he would've if it didn't hurt to _think_ – who would've thought?

The lights were dimmed and the blinds were half shut, too, but even by the fain light coming through the cracks he could tell that it was dusk and the shadows were growing thick in the corners of the room, closing in on the bed—

And this was when he saw her.

_Jennifer_.

Sitting on the chair by the bed, she had her head resting on her folded arm lying by Duke's hip, her free hand holding his.

She looked up when he stirred and smiled sleepily, blinking away the tiredness. "Hey," Jennifer called out in a small whisper of a sound, her fingers flexing around his hand. She stifled a yawn and straightened up. "Sorry, long day. How're you feeling?"

"Jennifer…"

Duke sat up on the bed, ignoring the nausea and the dizziness that swept over him, making the room spin and sway even harder and feel like a boat lost in a storm. He pulled Jennifer to her feet and onto the bed beside him, wrapping his arms around her, not even remembering the last time he felt so relieved. So relieved he almost felt his body deflate like a balloon pitched with a needle, folding in around her.

She was real, not a dream, soft and warm against him, one of her arms encircled around him, her hand resting against his chest. Jennifer tucked her face into the crook of his neck and her breath was tickling it softly as he inhaled her familiar scent, something delicate and sweet, something that was so _her_ it set all of his senses on fire.

"I'm happy to see you, too," Jennifer murmured quietly, and Duke could hear a small smile in her voice, and he couldn't help letting his own lips curve a little.

"We should stop meeting at the hospitals," he breathed out.

Jennifer chuckled. "It seems to be our thing."

"We need to come up with another _thing_," he shook his head. "And speaking of, what are we doing at the hospital?"

Jennifer pulled back just enough to look up at him. "Are you feeling better?" She put her hand on his forehead, then on his cheek, checking for the fever, her eyes searching his face and her brows drawn together in worry. "You scared me," she whispered with slightly quivering lips, and swallowed uneasily.

Duke couldn't help smiling at this. "_I_ scared _you_? The last time I saw you, you were—" _Dead_.

His throat closed in panic and his heart mad a crazy somersault, almost leaping out of his chest when the rest of the memories came rushing back in, the images flashing before his mind's eye. The lighthouse. The door. William falling through. Jennifer falling into his arms, lifeless. His fingers flexed on her back instinctively as he cupped her cheek with his palm which felt particularly hot against her slightly cooler skin, soft and very, very real. His eyes roamed frantically around her features.

"Jennifer, what happened?" He asked after a few long moments in a thick, forced voice.

Her hand still closed around a fistful of Duke's hospital robe, Jennifer opened her mouth to respond, and then they both turned towards the door and the sound of approaching footsteps on the other side, accompanied by a couple of voices, too hushed to make out the words.

Duke all but held his breath until the footsteps passed by the door without pausing and the voices faded away.

"Hey, are you… okay?" He asked when Jennifer looked at him again, his eyes roaming wildly around her face, searching for unspoken reassurance, the image of her lifeless form still painfully fresh in his mind.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm—I'm fine."

"You'll tell me everything, but first we need to get out of here," Duke said quietly.

"What?" Jennifer frowned. "Thing or not, you're not going anywhere!"

Duke leaned in a little, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not, Duke. You just set a record for blood transfusion. Your blood pressure is—" She cut off and took in a sharp breath. "I've been there in the park with you, remember? I saw what happened. Whatever Audrey did to you, you're not fine. Something is really wrong, and you shouldn't—"

"Because we can fix the troubles with antibiotics now?" Duke smiled a little, trying to keep his voice as light and nonchalant at his could, his chest feeling tight at the sight on worry on her face, at the tremor in her voice.

"Look, I don't think…" Jennifer bit her lower lip. "What if… whatever happened down at the lighthouse, Vince said it was bad, really bad. And that burned field, and the blood…" Her fingers on his cheek trembled a little and they slid down his face, falling on his chest.

"We're not going to fix it until we figure out what happened to Audrey and… undo it somehow." He paused, then added, "You said it yourself, remember? We need to find a way to reverse it, whatever it is." She still didn't look convinced. Sighing, Duke reached to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear before placing his hand on the side of her neck, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'll be fine. I promise."

Reluctantly, Jennifer nodded – more in defeat than agreement. She looked down for a moment, away from the intensity of his eyes, heaving a sigh that escaped her chest almost without her noticing it. And when she glanced up again, there was a small, a very unconvincing smile, a ghost of it more than actual thing.

"At lease you're not handcuffed this time."

"We'll save it for later," Duke shook his head, making the corners of her mouth tug up a little. He caught her by the arm when she started sliding off the bed to let him get dressed. "Jennifer?" There were so many questions he couldn't even put into words swarming in his head it almost hurt. As if this big, deep darkness growing inside of his body wasn't enough.

She turned, her gaze quizzical.

Duke swallowed, not quite sure how to put his messy thoughts into words. It was still hard to comprehend the fact all this was happening for real, that Jennifer was actually there, in flesh and blood, that Audrey wasn't Audrey anymore, and that Haven wasn't the same Haven Duke had known for over 30 years.

"We'll figure it out. I promise."

* * *

"So, your plan is to keep her locked up?" Duke asked, incredulous.

They were at the Gull, sitting at one of the tables by the window. With only a couple of chandeliers illuminating the place and pitch black darkness outside, their faces looked particularly grim and eerie, the shadows crossing their features, reflecting the gravity of the situation.

"What else could I do?" Nathan asked and ran a weary hand down his face before fixing his eyes on Duke sitting across from him. "She's not…" He almost chocked on the words, pausing to swallow the bitter taste of them that settled in his mouth. "She's not Audrey anymore."

"But she," Jennifer started, her eyes darting between Nathan and Duke as she searched for the right words before settling on Nathan's face at last, concerned. "She can still fix Duke, right? Whatever she did… She's got to."

To the left form her, Duke heaved a sigh that came out as a half chuckle, humorless and bitter, as she kept staring at Nathan as though willing him to say what she wanted to hear.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Duke breathed out after a while when Nathan failed to come up with any kind of response.

Jennifer frowned, turning to him at last. "I'm mean, she's… she's still Audrey on the inside. I mean she probably knows how to reverse… whatever it is that she did with that—black thing."

"Except whatever personality is in control of her body right now, I doubt she'd be excited about, you know, saving anyone's lives." Duke looked down at his hands, clasped together on the table before him.

"Which is exactly why we need to find a way to get Audrey back," Nathan said firmly, rubbing his forehead.

Duke glanced up. "How? I don't suppose there's a recipe or a manual for it."

"She's been someone else before. It's not a done deal." Jennifer looked from one to another again, hopeful beyond all hope, her voice urgent and somewhat desperate. She locked eyes with Duke, holding his gaze, her heart thudding dully.

"It's different this time," Nathan spoke in a hollow, hoarse voice that sounded like all life had been drained out of him since the events at the lighthouse and only a shell remained – a shell that now had to move and function and it didn't quite know how. "She's… she's whoever she was all those years ago. Before any of the personalities took over." He sighed. "I'm not sure she'd want to change back into Audrey since, apparently, it wasn't her idea in the first place. And with the Barn gone—"

He let the unfinished phrase hang in the air.

Jennifer stiffened, each of Nathan's words feeling like a sucker punch knocking air out of her lungs until she thought she was going to fold in on herself and dissipate.

She turned to Duke when his hand covered her trembling fingers that were fumbling anxiously with "Unstake My Heart" of the will of their own, stilling them.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," he said quietly in that soothing voice that made her chest tighten, his half smile only a fleeting ghost of his usual smirk, and just as convincing.

_No, it won't_, she wanted to say, her fear coursing through her veins, toxic and poisonous. Nothing was okay and she didn't see how it could possibly be fixed now that they were at the dead end with nowhere to go. Everything was falling apart, and the realization was making her want to scream. She didn't say any of that though, the words feeling wrong and foul in her mouth, stuck in her throat and making it hard to breathe. After everything they'd been through, after all the sacrifices they'd made—

Duke squeezed the knot of her fingers a little, his skin so much hotter than hers.

She was about to say something – something sobering most likely, when Nathan spoke. Propping his elbows on the table, he leaned forward, intense and edgy.

"Jennifer, this book-" he started, his gaze flickering down for a moment. "It seems to exist to keep this world safe from William and whatever Audrey was before she got trapped in the Barn." His voice tightened. "So I was thinking… Maybe it could tell us how to bring Audrey back because when Mara touched it, it—I don't know, electrocuted her, knocked her out."

Jennifer glanced at Duke briefly, then at the book, and up at Nathan again.

"There were no new messages since the lighthouse," she said apologetically. "I don't know if there will be anything else now that William is gone and the door is closed."

Nathan's face fell, his disappointment almost palpable as though he was hanging over the abyss and Jennifer's words cut the rope, sending him flying into nothingness. She could almost hear hope seep out of him, replaced with deep dark desperation.

Finally, he nodded. "Just—just keep your eyes open, okay?"

"Sure."

"Jennifer," Duke began, making her turn to him, "before you—"_died_, he cut himself off and cleared his throat as though he actually choked on the word. "At the lighthouse, before you passed out, you said that it wasn't William we should've been worried about. What did you mean?"

"I sad that?" Jennifer's brows drew together. "I… don't know." She peered at the glowing Guard symbol as though it held the answers to all of her questions before looking helplessly at Duke. "I remember the door closing, and then I woke up at the _Herald_. And… that's it." She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Duke leaned down to kiss her on the head. "It's okay," he whispered, his voice muffled a little against her hair and his soothing hand resting on the small of her back. And then to Nathan, "So, what's the plan now? With… Audrey."

"Vince is going to check the archives and see if something like that ever happened before. If it did, maybe we'll find a way to deal with it, just in case they overlooked something before. I mean, they didn't need to actually research it, not like that.

"Look, we'll figure it out," Duke told him, making Nathan's lips curl into a humorless grimace of a smile.

"It's late," Nathan said, standing up. "I need to go back to the station. Dwight's there, taking care of everything. We need to make sure no one walks in on _her_ before we decide what to do next." He rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. "Gotta send him home to get some rest."

Duke and Jennifer followed suit, the legs of their chairs scraping against the hardwood floors.

"Call—if something comes up."

"I will," Nathan promised.

"You okay?" Jennifer asked when she noticed Duke grimace a little.

"Yeah, just a headache," he rubbed his temple. "Long day."

"Let me get you some aspirin, okay? I saw some in the kitchen." She handed him the book. "Wait here, I'll be right back.

Resisting the urge to touch his forehead, check it for the fever she felt earlier at the barren field by the marina, Jennifer paused for the barest of moments before hurrying off toward the swing doors leading to the kitchen.

"How are you really feeling?" Nathan asked quietly as they both watched her walk away, the staccato of her heels particularly loud in the dead silence of the night.

"Like a million nuclear bombs about to explode," Duke responded almost matter of factly, as if it wasn't a big deal at all. As if they were talking about weather or a baseball game or something else equally insignificant.

"You should have stayed at the hospital."

"If troubles could be fixed with pills and needles, we wouldn't be standing here right now."

Which almost earned him a smile, except it hit a bit too close to home, and Nathan didn't really look like he was in a mood to appreciate his quips. Instead, he nodded towards the sounds coming from the kitchen.

"Is Jennifer okay?"

Duke pursed his lips for a moment, a shadow passing over his face.

"Yeah," he responded after a moment of hesitation, and then turned to Nathan. "Hey, I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, Nathan, but—" he glanced briefly at the kitchen door and lowered his voice to make sure Jennifer couldn't overhear him from there. "If anything happens to me, make sure she's okay."

"You can't start thinking like that, Duke." Nathan shook his head.

"Because everything working out great so far," Duke chuckled ruefully and dropped his gaze for a moment. "It's bad this time, buddy. Really bad." He looked up again to find Nathan watch him with a frown on his face. "I just want to know that Jennifer's safe."

Nathan opened his mouth – to protest, to tell Duke he better make sure to do it himself, to tell him they'd find a way to fix everything and there was no point in making such promises – but this was when Jennifer came out of the kitchen with a bottle of pills and a glass of water, and he had no other choice but to clamp his mouth shut under Duke's intense gaze and nod solemnly, giving the other man 'We'll talk about it later' look.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded a brisk goodbye at Jennifer and walked out of the Gull, swallowed by the night. Moments later, his car's engine came to life, its rumble scattering across the calm waters of the bay before fading off completely as he drove away.

Duke gulped two pills at once, grimacing, and put the glass on the table.

The pounding headache that started hours ago was echoing in every part of his body, throbbing in his temples and pooling behind his eyes like a ball of fire and barb wire rolling in his skull. Nothing he hadn't been through before after some party or another, although Duke doubted any amount of aspirin could fix it. How long would he be able to endure it before decapitating himself, anyway?

"Hey, everything okay?" Jennifer asked quietly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Duke slipped his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together. "Come on, let's get back to the Rouge."

* * *

The police department was dark and empty when Nathan walked in, save for the light coming from the dispatch booth where the officer on duty had to take the calls 24/7, although everything seemed to be quiet now. A couple of lamps were on between the entrance and Dwight's office, but the rest of the officers were long gone for the night, leaving the place feel alien and unfamiliar, what with the sound of his footsteps echoing in the hallways and the shadows lurking in the corners.

The times he had to pull an all-nighter here were far and between, and Nathan caught himself thinking that he had never thought of the Haven PD as eerie and uncomfortable before. He did now, and it was unsettling.

He paused briefly by the half open door leading to Dwight's office and motioned for the other man to follow him to the jail cells when he looked up from the papers sprawled before him on the desk.

"Everything okay?" Nathan asked in a low voice, although there was no one around to overhear them. These days, he thought, it wasn't an unnecessary precaution.

Dwight nodded curtly, his eyes darting around them as though they were walking through the enemy territory and not a police station both he and Nathan knew like the back of their hands.

"I don't think anyone except Gloria knows what's going on. As far as I'm concerned, everyone thinks that you're done for the day and Audrey has a day off." They paused before the iron door leading to the three adjoined jail cells. "Dave was in a pretty bad shape. He's got some stitches and is on painkillers, too. I left him with Vince for the night."

Nathan pursed his lips for a moment. "We'll talk to him tomorrow morning. First thing."

Dwight hesitated, looking around them once again, before meeting Nathan's gaze, uncertain about the questions that filled his head like a busy bee hive – about Duke, and Dave, and Jennifer, and how she was still alive, and what happened to her in the first place, and, more importantly, what they were going to do if Audrey couldn't be turned back into being Audrey. "You sure you can deal with this?" He asked instead.

Nathan cast a quick glance at the dark green door that looked nothing like an entry way to jail cells anymore but more like a portal leading to another world instead, what with not knowing what was waiting for them on the other side.

"I'm not sure either of us has a choice." The words came out resigned and ominous.

He waited for Dwight to unlock and open the door and stepped in.

Audrey was lying on the cot where he had left her a few hours earlier, her bent arm underneath her head and a few strands of light hair falling on her face. In the semi darkness of the room, she looked nothing like the woman he had a glimpse of in the lighthouse, and Nathan wondered if maybe it was nothing but a bad dream after all. Maybe they had all imagined it and nothing actually happened. Maybe Duke was fine and Mara never came back in the first place. Sure it was possible, he told himself. Nothing was ever impossible in Haven. Or maybe the shock or whatever she got from Jennifer's book restored Audrey Parker in her. Maybe—

In the cell, Audrey stirred and opened her eyes, blinking a few times and waiting for them to adjust to near complete darkness, what with the only source of light being a low watt bulb near the cell next to hers.

Her eyes slid past Dwight and fixed on Nathan, and she frowned with confusion at the metal bars separating them from one another. Slowly, she sat up on the cot and ran her hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.

"Nathan?"

**To be continued… **


End file.
